Effect of silver doping on the electrical properties of a-Sb$_2$Se$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates how silver doping affects the electrical properties of amorphous Sb2Se3, revealing phase changes and property variations that could enhance its suitability for electronic devices.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the effects of Ag-doping on phase structure and electrical transport in a-Sb2Se3, with detailed analysis over temperature and frequency ranges.

Findings

Ag-doping creates two homogeneous phases in a-Sb2Se3.

Electrical properties are voltage and frequency dependent.

Activation energy decreases with doping, indicating altered conduction mechanisms.

Abstract

This paper reports the effect of Ag-doping on electrical properties of a-Sb2Se3 in the temperature range 240-340 K and frequency range 5 Hz to 100 kHz. The variation of transport properties with thermal doping has been studied. Ag-doping produced two homogeneous phases in the sample and which are found to be voltage dependent in the temperature range studied and frequency dependent in lower frequency region (0.1 - 10 kHz). Activation energy Eg and C' [=$\sigma_0$ exp ($\gamma$/k), where $\gamma$, is the temperature coefficient of the band gap] calculated from dc conductivity has been found to vary from 0.42 eV to 0.26 eV and 41.08x10$^-6$ to 2.902x10-6 $\ohm^{-1}$cm$^{-1}$ respectively. Ag-doping can be used to make the sample more useful in device applications.